India, France ink deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets

India and France has signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of 7.87 billion Euros. The deal was signed by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian. Eric Trappier in New Delhi. This is the first fighter aircraft deal signed by India with other country since the purchase of Sukhoi aircrafts from Russia in the late 1990’s. Key Facts The defence deal includes the aircraft in fly-away condition, simulators, weapons, spares, maintenance, and Performance Based Logistics support for five years. The Rafale is a twin-engine fighter, multi-role fighter aircraft manufactured by French aviation company Dassault. These aircrafts is capable of carrying out all combat missions such as interception, air defence, in-depth strikes, ground support, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear deterrence. They will come with various India- specific modifications including Israeli helmet mounted displays, low band jammers, radar warning receivers, infra-red search and tracking, 10 hour flight data recording, towed decoy systems among others. The weapons package of deal includes Meteor radar guided Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile which is considered the best in the class with range of over 150 kms. It also includes Scalp long range air to ground missiles. Meteor missile has a superior BVR than any of its competitor in the South Asia region. Comment The Rafale fighter jets are likely to succeed ageing fleet of Indian Air Force (IAF’s) Mirage fighters for nuclear warhead delivery as part of India’s nuclear doctrine. They will be stationed at two IAF bases, Sarsawa in Haryana and Hasimara in West Bengal. Integration of Meteor missile on Rafale jets give IAF air superiority to hit targets inside both Pakistan and across northern and eastern borders while staying within India’s territorial boundary. Background The deal comes after 17 months of tough negotiations since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision for direct purchase of the Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition in April 2014 citing “critical operational necessity” of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

GK And Current Affairs – 

 1. How much amount has been allotted by the Tamil Nadu government for Thaaliku Thangam scheme under marriage assistance programme?
 [A]Rs. 289 crore [B]Rs. 204 crore [C]Rs. 323 crore [D]Rs. 333 crore 

answer:Rs.204 crore The Tamil Nadu government has allotted Rs. 204 crore for ‘Thaaliku Thangam’ (Gold for Mangalsutra) scheme under a marriage assistance programme scheme for the year 2016-17 to benefit 12,500 women.


2. The world’s largest solar power plant has been installed in which state of India?
 [A]Andhra Pradesh [B]Rajasthan [C]Tamil Nadu [D]Haryana

answer: Tamil Nadu The world’s largest solar power plant with an installed capacity of 648MW has been commissioned at Kamudhi in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. The plant was set up by Adani Group on an area of around 5,000 acres at a total cost of Rs 4,550 crore. 

3. The 2016 International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) world conference is hosted by which country? 
[A]Istanbul [B]New Delhi [C]Moscow [D]Berlin

answer:Moscow The 33rd edition of International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) World Conference is hosted by Moscow, Russia from September 19-22, 2016. The theme of IASP 2016 is “The Global Mind: Linking Innovation Communities for Internationalization, Sustainability and Growth”. IASP is the largest worldwide network of science parks and areas of innovation, uniting technology parks and institutions and it has a Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The 2017 IASP will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. 

4.Which Indian film has been selected as the official entry to Oscar Awards 2017 in the foreign language film category?
 [A]Visaranai [B]Court [C]Thithi [D]Anjali

answer:Visaranai The Tamil film “Visaranai” has been selected as the official entry to Oscars 2017 in the Foreign Language Film category. The film is directed by Vetrimaran and is based on M.Chandrakumar’s novel Lock Up. It is story about autorickshaw driver, who shares his experience after he and three of his friends are arrested on false charges. 

5. Who has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court? 
[A]Jayanta Mitra [B]Manjula Chellur [C]Arun Kumar Mishra [D]Girish Chandra Gupta

answer:Girish Chandra Gupta Justice Girish Chandra Gupta has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. Justice Gupta would have a short tenure as Chief Justice of the High Court as he is due to retire in December 2016. He was administered oath by West Bengal Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi. 
6. Who will get the first-ever Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award-2016?
 [A]Paula Radcliffe [B]Muhammad Ali [C]Paavo Nurmi [D]Michael Phelps

answer:Muhammad Ali The first-ever Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award-2016 will be posthumously bestowed to Olympic champion Muhammad Ali, who passed away on June 3, 2016. It will be accepted by his wife Lonnie Ali. The annual award will recognize an individual(s) who has served as a powerful force for good in society, inspiring others by contributing to a better world, uniting people or leading a cause.


7. Who will be honoured with the 2016 Lalit Arpan Samman?
 [A]Shubha Mudgal [B]Krishen Khanna [C]Raghu Rai [D]Yamini Krishnamurthy

answer:Shubha Mudgal Shubha Mudgal, the Hindustani classical singer will be honoured with the 2016 Lalit Arpan Samman. She is known for her singing in genres of Khayal, Thumri and Dadra. The 15th edition of Lalit Arpan festival 2016 will also acknowledge artist couple Paramjit and Arpita Singh. The 2016 festival is dedicated to dance. 

8. The book “The Sellout” has been authored by whom? 
[A]Sam Lipsyte [B]Sarah Silverman [C]Kiese Laymon [D]Paul Beatty

answer:Paul Beatty The book “The Sellout” has been authored by Paul Beatty, which is shortlisted for 2016 Man Booker prize.It is a satire on United States constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship and the holy grail of racial equality. 

9.Who has been appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to the United States?
 [A]Arun Singh [B]Navtej Sarna [C]Taranjit Singh Sandhu [D]Yash Sinha 

answer:Navtej Sarna Navtej Sarna, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1980 batch, has been appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to the United States. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs before he was posted in London in January 2016. He will succeed Arun Singh, who is due for retirement. Apart from this, the Union Government has also appointed Taranjit Singh Sandhu as the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka. Sandhu will replace Yash Sinha.


10. The first meeting of Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council has been held in which of the following cities? [A]Ahmedabad [B]Chennai [C]New Delhi [D]Bengaluru

answer:New Delhi The first meeting of Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council has held in New Delhi and is chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The two-day meet of the GST Council council will decide on long pending issues of threshold limit for applicability of the tax as well as the limit for dual control between Centre and states. The GST is a single indirect tax which will subsume most of the central and state taxes such as VAT, excise duty, service tax and central sales tax.

Navtej Sarna appointed Ambassador to the US

The Union Government has appointed Navtej Sarna (59) was appointed as Ambassador to the United States. He will take over from Arun Kumar Singh, who has retired from the service. In his new role he will face the task of engaging with the new administration in United States following the November 2016 Presidential poll. About Navtej Sarna He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1980 batch. In his career spanning 35 years, he has handled several important assignments at the MEA. Prior to this appointment he was serving as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He was appointed to India’s High Commissioner to UK in January 2016. Prior to it, he was serving as Secretary (West) in the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He was among the longest-serving spokespersons of the MEA from 2002 to 2008. He also has authored many fiction and non-fiction books and the most recent being ‘Second Thoughts: On Books, Authors and the Writerly Life’ released in 2016. He was also India’s ambassador to Israel from 2008 to 2012. He had served at various Indian missions including in Warsaw, Moscow, Tehran, Geneva, Thimphu and Washington.

Union Government announces enhanced support under MEIS of Foreign Trade Policy

The Union Government has extended support to certain new products and the rate of incentives for certain other specified products under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). Decision in this regard was taken by Department of Commerce (DoC) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in backdrop of the continued decline in growth of Indian goods exports. Key Facts DoC has added 2901 additional products falling under different product categories under the MEIS. With this the total number of items (products) covered under the scheme has been increased from 5,012 to 7,103. The major products added include several items of traditional medicines, dried onion, processed cereal products, marine products and value added items of plastics, leather articles and suitcases. The total government support extended under the scheme has been enhanced to Rs. 23,500 crore per annum from the present Rs. 22,000 crore. Besides, products that will get incentives include engineering goods, garments, fabrics, chemicals, glass products, ceramics, leather goods, periodicals, newspapers, silk items, wool products, made ups, tubes and pipes. What is Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)? MEIS was launched under Foreign Trade Policy of India (FTP) 2015-20. It is one of the two schemes introduced in FP 2015-20, as a part of Exports from India Scheme. The other scheme is Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). Objective of MEIS is to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs involved in export of goods and products, which are produced and manufactured in India. It seeks to enhance India’s export competitiveness of these goods and products having high export intensity, employment potential.

Researchers produce carbon from sugarcane waste for use in batteries

Researchers from Pune (Maharashtra) have produced high-quality carbon from sugarcane waste within minutes by using a low power microwave system. They had used a simple, cost-effective and quick process to convert sugarcane bagasse into anode-grade porous, conducting, activated carbon material for use in Li-ion batteries. What they achieved it? They had carried out initial carbonisation overnight at room temperature by mixing bagasse with concentrated sulphuric acid. The acid treatment had dissolved most of the inorganic impurities present in bagasse except silica. This helped in forming robust carbon double bond backbone structure. The solid product obtained from acid treatment was washed thoroughly and was oven-dried at 70 degree C. Later it was mixed with potassium hydroxide to form slurry. The slurry is then heated in a microwave oven for a few minutes. The heating had led to graphitisation and pores were formed when potassium hydroxide reacts with carbon. Significance of Research The process will bring down the time to get anode-grade carbon dramatically. Thus, it will help to reduce electrical energy input substantially. The quality of carbon and battery performance using this carbon is quite good and competitive compared with carbon made through other complicated schemes and processes. The carbon was produced using Simple kitchen microwave used to derive high-quality material in minutes.

India, US, Afghanistan reaffirm shared interest in combating terrorism

India, United States and Afghanistan have reaffirmed their shared interests in combating terrorism and advancing peace and security in the region. In this regard, a trilateral statement was issued after meeting of their delegates in New York on the sidelines of the 71st session of UN General Assembly. Key features of trilateral statement Three countries reaffirm their shared interests in advancing peace and security in the region, as well as countering terrorism. They have exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan and on regional issues of mutual interest. The meeting provided a forum for the governments of India and the US to explore ways to coordinate and align their assistance with the priorities of the Afghanistan government. They welcomed the discussions focused on political, economic, and development goals in Afghanistan including the regional dimension.

Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Exams: September 22, 2016

Union Cabinet approves Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to enact the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016. The proposal to enact this bill was forwarded by the Union Ministry of Shipping in order to repeal five archaic admiralty statutes. Admiralty jurisdiction is related to the powers of the High Courts with respect to the claims associated with transport by sea and navigable waterways. 

• The Bill consolidates the existing laws relating to admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, admiralty jurisdiction of courts, arrest of vessels and related issues. This legislative proposal will also fulfil a long-standing demand of the maritime legal fraternity. It also repeals five obsolete British statues on admiralty jurisdiction in civil matters.

• They are (i) Admiralty Court Act, 1840 (ii) Admiralty Court Act, 1861, (iii) Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890, (iv) Colonial Courts of Admiralty (India) Act, 1891, and (v) Provisions of the Letters Patent, 1865, Salient Features of Admirability Bill, 2016 Confers admiralty jurisdiction on High Courts located in coastal states of India, thus extending it upto territorial waters. 

• It applies to every vessel irrespective of place of domicile or residence of owner. It does not apply to naval auxiliary, warships and vessels used for non-commercial purposes.

• Inland vessels and vessels under construction are excluded from its application. But it empowers the Union Government to make it applicable to these vessels also by a notification.

• It lists the jurisdiction for adjudicating on a set of maritime claims. A vessel can be arrested in certain circumstances in order to ensure security against a maritime claim.

MS Dhoni named captain of India's all time Test XI by Wisden

• Wisden is one of the most reputed cricket magazines in the world, announced the team to mark India's 500th Test match starting on 22 September 2016 against New Zealand at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.

• Wisden Test XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni (captain, wicketkeeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Bishan Singh Bedi, Mohammad Azharuddin (12th man).

Union Cabinet approves submarine optical fibre cable connectivity with Andaman & Nicobar Islands

• The estimated cost for development of the project is 1102.38 crore rupees including operational expenses for 5 years.

• It will equip Andaman & Nicobar Islands with appropriate bandwidth and telecom connectivity for implementation of e-Governance initiatives and establishment of enterprises & e-commerce facilities.

• It will also enable the provision of adequate support to educational institutes for knowledge sharing, availability of job opportunities and fulfill the vision of Digital India.

MIT develops a spectroscopic technique to detect Martian life

• 2020 Mars Rover

Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third week of September 2016 was named the captain of the all-time India Test XI chosen by cricket magazine Wisden. The other prominent players in the team are Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as the openers, followed by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, all rounder Kapil Dev and Dhoni.

Veteran Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev along with Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan have been named as pacers, while legendary Bishen Singh Bedi, Harbhajan Singh and Team India coach Anil Kumble are the spinners. Azharuddin has been named as the 12th man.

The Union Cabinet on September  21, 2016 approved the provision of a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Mainland (Chennai) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The project to be completed by December 2018 will connect the mainland Chennai with Port Blair & five other islands viz. Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Havelock, Kamorta and Great Nicobar.

Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) US, have developed a spectroscopic technique that would help the 2020 Mars Rover to non-invasively identify sediments that are relatively unaltered, and maintain much of their original composition.

Such pristine samples will allow scientists to identify the signs of former life, if they existed, on the red planet.

The new technique is based on an improved way of interpreting the results of Raman spectroscopy, a common, non-destructive process used by geologists to identify the chemical composition of ancient rocks.

NASA has plans to launch a new Mars rover that will be tasked to probe the region on the planet believed to hold remnants of ancient microbial life. The rover will collect samples of rocks and soil, and store them on the Martian surface.

The collected samples would be returned to Earth sometime in the distant future so that scientists can meticulously analyze the samples for signs of present or former extraterrestrial life.